CELL 12X06 1: Eyes in the House

Population 900. A fading timber and agricultural hamlet tucked into the damp forested ridges of Clackamas County.

Christian: Rowan Finch. Asher: Gavin "Warp Pipe" Townsend. Rob: Alexei Yemulov.

The Lin's Residence

DAY 1, 01/08/2001, Monday.

8:00AM. Introductions. Gavin, 16, sits in a CAIN facility high-school education class. US history. The teacher drones on about how the WWII attack on Hiroshima was actually a bound Centipede Sin used as an occult weapon of mass destruction by the USOC. CAIN wasted no time in dismantling the department. Gavin feigns attention while playing Tetris 2 on his smuggled Gameboy. Moppy brown hair, little chubby, thick rectangle-frame glasses. The door opens and Blackout Scope, smoking a cigarette in the classroom, calls the boy out into the hallway, recruiting him into the newly assembled Cat 1 exorcist cell 12X06.

Rowan, 20, is called into CASTLE Director Avory Shell's office. Rowan's sharply dressed, reddish-brown long hair, slight stubble. Avory hands him the mission briefing for Oakhaven, and informs him that should he return in one piece she has information on Selena. He is to rendezvous with Scope and the others at the infiltration hangar, after briefing the last member of the cell:

Alexei Yemulov, 18, practices his Blasphemy, Vector, in a CAIN training gym. Box-dyed blonde hair, disheveled, tracksuit hidden under his uniform. He throws a baseball at impressive speed and catches it as it bounces back into his palm. Bea, Cat 2 exorcist, practices her Blasphemy on the other side of the gym. They both try not to play eye tag. History. Rowan walks into the gym and introduces himself to Alexei. They head towards the hangar. Rowan waving to Bea, his good friend, on the way out.

Mission 1 Briefing

12:00PM. Black Hawk chopper out of the hangar. The exorcists’ first time seeing the sky in months. Somewhere in Northern California. Takes awhile to get to eastern Oregon. Dark clouds. Mist and fog. Douglas fir trees stretch into the air, dark green spires. The cell, with Scope escorting them as designated Handler, touches down at the abandoned sawmill. Blackberry bushes and muddy snow, half-melted. The Black Hawk departs, leaving the cell. They have three days. Maximum. 

Alexei is afflicted upon setting foot in Oakhaven. The Agony [Domain 8]. Sunken. Gavin proposes investigating the nearby river, which they can hear rushing. After trekking through the woods they find a path pushing through the brush. Seems to be a woodland trail on the other side of the river. The cell agrees to follow Route 9 towards the Town Center first, and retrace their steps here later if they need to.

Oakhaven Sawmill

12:40PM. Town Center. The cell locates Luigi's Family Pizza & Arcade after Scope promises to buy the crew slices. Garlic smell, wet floors, "Open" sign and an unlocked door. But nobody inside. Scope starts making a personal pizza. Gavin checks out the arcade cabinets (Time Crisis and Tekken 2). Rowan investigates the kitchen. Nobody has cooked here in a couple days. Alexei tries to get a "Scopey Snack" (cigarette) off of Scope. Only if he can beat him at Tekken 2. Scope beats Alexei's ass in the game. Inside the office they find family photos. Luigi Rossi, the grandfather, started this business a few decades ago. Gino owns the place now, with his son Marco manning the register. Marco is one of the five townsfolk that went missing in the past week. The cell has a lead. Scope finishes his personal pizza and shares slices with the others. He says he's gonna hang back here, holding down the pizzeria like a "Mission Control" if they need any help.

1:30PM. The cell adopts a guise of being college freshmen from OSU filming a documentary focused on the Rossi family pizzeria. Gavin travels inside his Gameboy using his Palace Blasphemy to hide all of the exorcists' handguns and melee weapons. It begins to rain a little harder. The drops bounce off Alexei's Vector shield. Scope calls out to Rowan before he leaves, asking the lad to take care of the other two exos and make sure they follow CAIN conduct. The cell interviews a few townsfolk on the main street to get a grasp of the town's situation. 

It starts to pour rain. To really pour. 

The cell seeks shelter at the Sheriff's Substation. Alexei runs to the building no problem. Rowan slips in the slick puddles of mud and snow, slamming into the pavement. Gavin begins to help, but quickly gives up and continues to run for shelter. It feels like somebody grabs Gavin's ankle and yanks him to the ground. He looks up from the sidewalk and sees nothing but mud and slush where he tripped (?). Where You Belong [Domain 7]. 

2:00PM. Clackamas County Sheriff's Station Oakhaven Substation. Rowan and Gavin are thoroughly drenched, soaked to the bone, and covered in mud and slush. The station is a cacophonous clusterfuck. Sarah Hayes screams at the desk sergeant about her missing son, Tyler. Deb Vance sits alone, dejected, in shock. Gino Rossi eavesdrops, with hope in his eyes. The phone rings. The radio chatters. Sheriff Dale Vance watches the whole scene, sipping his coffee. 

Sheriff Substation

The police seem unconcerned. David and Sarah Lin, the couple that went missing one week ago, are weird recluses. David has some illness that traps him at home. Townsfolk rarely see Sarah Lin. The highschoolers are "troublemakers," and have been missing barely a day. Sheriff Vance is only distantly related to Chloe Vance, the third missing high schooler. Very distant. Not even at the same family functions. A big family in this town. Talking to Gino Rossi, he doesn't seem afraid. Marco is a good kid. He likes movies. He's a leader. He knows he's gonna come back home anytime now. He's heart warmed that the cell wants to create a documentary of his business. He only wishes the circumstances were better. Deb Vance is defeated. Gavin gives her his childhood security blanket. "This means as much to me as your daughter does to you." He promises to find Chloe and reunite the two. Deb is touched, and relief appears in her eyes. She explains Chloe loves writing, loves dark mysteries. The boys had crushes on her, but she only wants to be friends. Rowan approaches Sarah Hayes. An intense asshole. She wants to find her son to reprimand him. Wishes he played more sports instead of obsessing over The X-Files and the occult. "Those kids love their abandoned ruins." Alexei steals a cigarette from the desk sergeant. 

A narrative coalesces outside the station. The exorcists believe a Blair Witch Project scenario is taking place. The teens, with the aim of shooting a video on Marco's camcorder, explored some abandoned place. But where? Gavin consults his Palace library and makes a connection. Sarah Lin's wealthy parents, the Millers, have a barn outside of town that's been abandoned for almost nine years. It would be perfect. How do they get there? The cell travels to the Lin's residence, in a spacey cul-de-sac off Route 9, in hopes of acquiring more information about the Lin's and directions to the Old Miller Barn. 

3:30PM. The Lin's Residence. A modest one-story. Damp. Everything covered in a layer of condensation. The scent of mildew. Advertisements squeak quietly on a TV that provides the only illumination. Rowan opens the window curtains. A recliner faces toward a hospital bed setup that commands half the living space. Dog-eared medical reference books. "Huntington's Disease." Into the kitchen. Empty pill organizers. Very tidy. Vital's log. Oakhaven Community Clinic stationary. Signed by Nurse Evelyn Vance. Into the bedroom. Oppressively dark. Blackout curtains. A single twin bed. A bedside table, with a framed photo glinting in the dark. Rowan begins to cut the curtains using his Blasphemy, Tension...

However.

The instant before he acts he notices a face in the darkness. Two eyes, narrowly illuminated. And a blunt whisper, scarcely audible:

"I can tell you the truth."

???

Rowan cuts the curtains, light shining into the space. Frustration. Feeling, for some reason, like he can no longer rely on Alexei. The Grinding of Wheels [Domain 3]. The shape in the darkness, the shape darker than the darkness itself: it's gone. The room appears normal. The presence is gone...

TENSION: 0/3
PRESSURE: 2/6

Listened to RIP Swirl while writing.